World without Love. A poem by Roger Hudson

A world without chatting up
Without hugging
Without kissing
Without petting
Without fondling
Without all that follows

Blow a kiss
from a lipless mouth
with a gloved hand

Gaze with affection
from goggled eyes

Speak of love
from a hidden mouth
in muffled tones

Gesture adoration
from six feet away

Propose marriage
through Twitter or What’s App or email
Say Yes
by Reply or Like
or Heart or Smile or Thumbs Up emoji

Marry in an empty church
without touching
by a hologram priest or vicar or rabbi or imam or registrar

Conceive by exchange
of a phial of semen

Suckle by expressing and bottling
and feeding in mask and gloves
through a hole in a tent

Cuddle only in imagination
Never hug or romp or play

Love is no more
Sex is no more
in our modern world
but life goes on they say

…………

Roger is a print and performance poet based in Drogheda. His collections are Lifescapes, Greybell Wood and Beyond, Plaything of the Great God Kafka and shortly Hiddden in Green. He has read and performed at a number of venues and festivals.